All Is Not Gold That Glitters

Come Gather ’round all you kids And listen to my story, About some of the trials and temptations You will find on the road to glory. You go to school for many years, To get your education. Then you start out with high hopes Of climbing to some high station. Some will get a job, some will not. They don’t like this nor that. They want to be “big league”, and talk big, But they are only “talking...

The Almighty Dollar

I have never made much money, Nor acquired many worldly goods. But I have had a lot of fun exploring, The rugged hills and woods. I have sat by many a campfire, In wild and lonely places. And in the leaping flames could see Myriads of tormented faces. Of people grubbing their lives away, Chasing the almighty dollar. If a single one eludes them, They set up an awful holler. Some slave and toil and till the soil, The very...

The Miners Hymn

Rock of Ages, cleft by me, Let me find, some gold in Thee. Find some gold, and silver too, Or a lot, of lead would do. Rock of Ages, share with me, The sight of gold, I want to see. Through desert heat, and arctic cold, I have searched, this land for gold. Many a mile, on tired feet, No water to drink, and naught to eat. Rock of Ages, don’t torture me, Release Thy gold, and set it free. Sometime soon, as a surprise, Please...

Time Payment Plan

You and your wife, led a joyful life, Until you started buying On the installment plan, but now you can Get joy from thoughts of dying. There are payments due upon the car, Also on the electric washer. Due on everything, inside and out, And the duns are getting harsher. You are a wreck, your measly check Just won’t go halfway ‘round. That pay monthly pest, won’t let you rest, ‘Till you are underground. But even then, the box...

The Year the Huckleberries Failed

In this great state of Montana We have the finest in the West, And above all the other things, I like Huckleberries best. They make the very choicest jam And most delicious pies, They have stored up lots of flavor, Beneath Montana’s sunny skies. Most every year you can find some, ‘Though you may have to search awhile, But if you like them as well as I do, You will walk many a mile. But there was one year I can...

Tim-mber-r-r! Down the Hill!

I have cut a million trees, On a thousand hills My tools have left their traces. The mighty pine and tamarack Have fallen in all sorts of places. The fir, and larch, and towering spruce Have bowed beneath my axe and saw. They ‘bit the dust’, as I knew they must, In weather both mild and raw. From tiny seeds those trees had grown, And reached toward the sky. I got a mighty thrill, when I sent them down the hill But I hated to...

The Simple Truth

If you think of going mining, Better stop and think some more. For if you do, you’ll be worse off Than you ever were before. Every cent you can beg or borrow, Will go into the ground. You never will be satisfied, ‘Till you have drilled another ‘round’. You will work like a fool From daylight ‘till dark, You will find that mining Isn’t much of a lark. What little rest you get Won’t do you much good. When you should be...

The Mistreated Pup

It was the middle of winter and awfully bleak, The water was frozen, in pond and creek. The snow was deep, frigid and white, As the little pup suffered alone in the night. He had been thrown from a big shining car, Had landed in a ditch, with a bonebreaking jar. The car sped away, was soon out of sight, Leaving the broken legged puppy, in a terrible plight. He whimpered and moaned, and howled with pain But there was no kind...